How did Emirates get such a great rep?
Nov 26, 2016, 10:45 am
#16
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Europe
Programs: EK plat, ex-FB gold, Accor plat
Posts: 1,076
Economy class seats were not better than other airlines seats? I definitely found EK's economy class seats to have the most comfortable seats on any airline, even more comfortable than QR. Last month I did DXB - ICN in Y without even reclining my seat for the duration of the flight (that's how comfortable they are, to me at least.)
IFE on most flights were responsive to me, you just have to press harder on the screen (it is annoying and can hurt your finger but it works.)
Quality of IFE is not great? Trust me, I would be the first person to dump EK if it wasn't for their astonishing IFE (I have difficulties falling sleep on air planes so the IFE helps me pass the time during my long-haul flights.)
IFE on most flights were responsive to me, you just have to press harder on the screen (it is annoying and can hurt your finger but it works.)
Quality of IFE is not great? Trust me, I would be the first person to dump EK if it wasn't for their astonishing IFE (I have difficulties falling sleep on air planes so the IFE helps me pass the time during my long-haul flights.)
(no offense intended)
Nov 26, 2016, 7:12 pm
#17
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,454
Bread on EK does end up being solid pieces in Y. I don't think I'd characterise it as inedible, just a solid roll style thing. I appreciate that for many bread must be soft, not hard!
Breakfast on a plane - can never be good, imho. Reconstituted eggs are the order of the day it seems. That is where I do agree with you re: inedible. I don't think that's entirely isolated to EK though as I haven't found Y hot eggs on any airline palatable!
I think it's probably safer to go with the curry based options on EK, imho and for breakfast there's sometimes a non-egg one too.
Re: the bulkhead seats - it is definitely EK policy to release seats at check-in, so to be sure to get them, you'll need to go the airport when the airport desks open and request them (they are first come first served), regardless of what the computer said beforehand (EK IT is notoriously poor). As your husband is tall, I think that is the safest option.
For the meal service - the carts do travel in each cabin section and side separately but they are usually quite good about it once they are deployed. Once again that's down to the inconsistency of the crew, especially in economy as there are lots of new staff. The quality of the service is a lot to do with the quality of the individual supervisor, I find.
The crew arguing about their cart deployment is of course, not acceptable and not unheard of - a quick email to EK should be in order.
As your friend says, rapid expansion in capacity has taken its toll noticeably, imho. Whether that can continue in the current economic environment EK finds itself in is debatable (I suspect EK will be looking for any excuse to fire staff at this point so the badly performing crew members will be out of a job soon).
The inverted cardboard box hides metal oven trays upon which the meals are kept for service. It's not an oven.
Nov 26, 2016, 9:26 pm
#18
Join Date: Jun 2015
Programs: Kris world, Skywards, QF, CX
Posts: 34
I wonder if any of you have seen/can explain the bizarre chaos that characterized every one of the meals? I've never seen anything like it. On the first flight, they brought the cart out of the galley and then proceeded to do ... nothing. They served two people in the exit row and then stopped. They kept rolling the cart back towards the galley and then back down the aisle to the next row but didn't serve any food. The F.A. rolling the cart got into a tiff with another F.A. about the count of the meals. The F.A. rolling the cart kept turning to go back to the galley and then turning back to the cart. Finally the other F.A. just snapped at her about counting out the correct number of meals. This was all on the other side of the plane. My side was served about 30 min later. It took forever - well over an hour - before they began to pick up trays.
Same flight, second meal - same odd discrepancy between the two sides of the plane and overall, they got the meal service started so late that they were still picking up trays after seat backs were up and trays were supposed to be stowed.
Next flight, basically the same thing but it didn't take so long to pick up the trays.
Flight back to Dubai - same thing - one side of plane served, the other not for another 30 min. And again, took a very long time to start picking up the trays.
They also had something on their carts that I'd never seen before - an inverted cardboard box. I asked and they said it was "an oven." I think she meant that they were stacking the hot portions in there and it was helping to retain the heat during the very, very long meal distribution.
Same flight, second meal - same odd discrepancy between the two sides of the plane and overall, they got the meal service started so late that they were still picking up trays after seat backs were up and trays were supposed to be stowed.
Next flight, basically the same thing but it didn't take so long to pick up the trays.
Flight back to Dubai - same thing - one side of plane served, the other not for another 30 min. And again, took a very long time to start picking up the trays.
They also had something on their carts that I'd never seen before - an inverted cardboard box. I asked and they said it was "an oven." I think she meant that they were stacking the hot portions in there and it was helping to retain the heat during the very, very long meal distribution.
Many of the staff in Y are very new, and their CSV (That's what they call the superivisor now I think) is often very new as well. This all relates to the withering rates of staff turnover EK has imposed upon itself thanks to its inhumane and unsustainable rostering.
Throw into the mix a management team who live behind a desk and rarely venture out to view the chaos they impose with their "innovative" ideas and it's little wonder that there is consistent inconsistency and chaos at times.
Nov 27, 2016, 8:18 am
#19
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: MH, A3, EK, EY, TG, LH
Posts: 6
Breakfast on a plane - can never be good, imho. Reconstituted eggs are the order of the day it seems. That is where I do agree with you re: inedible. I don't think that's entirely isolated to EK though as I haven't found Y hot eggs on any airline palatable!
I find Emirates to be above average in Y for seat comfort, service and the IFE but why do they have to serve breakfast on almost every flight no matter the time of day. I usually connect in DXB in the early morning so I get 2x breakfast on each trip - usually served at 4am or at noon. And the main thing that bugs me is that coffee is only served after the meal (which would be fine for lunch but for breakfast I need coffee first!). I usually end up waiting for at least 30 minutes with the tray unopened until they come around with coffee - which does not improve the food.
Nov 27, 2016, 11:39 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 29
Oh. I just got it. Jennifer Anniston.
Erin Darke ✔ @ErinMayaDarke
If I fly Emirates and Jennifer Aniston doesn't co-opt my family and give me her 1st class seat, I'm going to feel very misled by these ads.
5:59 AM - 27 Oct 2016
Erin Darke ✔ @ErinMayaDarke
If I fly Emirates and Jennifer Aniston doesn't co-opt my family and give me her 1st class seat, I'm going to feel very misled by these ads.
5:59 AM - 27 Oct 2016
Last edited by FlightDelayed; Nov 27, 2016 at 11:47 am
Nov 27, 2016, 11:44 am
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 29
That main meal does sound unpleasant - I've had better luck overall with the curry based options on EK. Hopefully it is down to a poor choice of monthly menu cycle and catering, rather a sign of things to come, because in my experience the food has not descended to inedible levels in Y.
Bread on EK does end up being solid pieces in Y. I don't think I'd characterise it as inedible, just a solid roll style thing. I appreciate that for many bread must be soft, not hard!
Breakfast on a plane - can never be good, imho. Reconstituted eggs are the order of the day it seems. That is where I do agree with you re: inedible. I don't think that's entirely isolated to EK though as I haven't found Y hot eggs on any airline palatable!
Agree. But both options were eggs - scrambled or omelette (and they looked exactly the same!). We stocked up with yogurt (got it thru security!) and cheese so we are set for this next flight.
I think it's probably safer to go with the curry based options on EK, imho and for breakfast there's sometimes a non-egg one too.
We tried to order special meals but the website was balky and we could never get the selections to go through.
Re: the bulkhead seats - it is definitely EK policy to release seats at check-in, so to be sure to get them, you'll need to go the airport when the airport desks open and request them (they are first come first served), regardless of what the computer said beforehand (EK IT is notoriously poor). As your husband is tall, I think that is the safest option.
Hah! We arrived at DXB nearly eight hours early because I was a wuss and didn't want to drive to the airport in the dark. Or more accurately, I didn't want to drive around the airport in the dark. Finding rental return at Terminal 1 is not easy in the daylight. Lots of quick turns and splits and hidden signs. So we get to the check-in counter and find that the two agents on duty are from Argentina. They were so delighted that we conversed with them in Spanish that they found an exit-row for Daddy Long Legs.
For the meal service - the carts do travel in each cabin section and side separately but they are usually quite good about it once they are deployed. Once again that's down to the inconsistency of the crew, especially in economy as there are lots of new staff. The quality of the service is a lot to do with the quality of the individual supervisor, I find.
The crew arguing about their cart deployment is of course, not acceptable and not unheard of - a quick email to EK should be in order.
As your friend says, rapid expansion in capacity has taken its toll noticeably, imho. Whether that can continue in the current economic environment EK finds itself in is debatable (I suspect EK will be looking for any excuse to fire staff at this point so the badly performing crew members will be out of a job soon).
The inverted cardboard box hides metal oven trays upon which the meals are kept for service. It's not an oven.
Bread on EK does end up being solid pieces in Y. I don't think I'd characterise it as inedible, just a solid roll style thing. I appreciate that for many bread must be soft, not hard!
Breakfast on a plane - can never be good, imho. Reconstituted eggs are the order of the day it seems. That is where I do agree with you re: inedible. I don't think that's entirely isolated to EK though as I haven't found Y hot eggs on any airline palatable!
Agree. But both options were eggs - scrambled or omelette (and they looked exactly the same!). We stocked up with yogurt (got it thru security!) and cheese so we are set for this next flight.
I think it's probably safer to go with the curry based options on EK, imho and for breakfast there's sometimes a non-egg one too.
We tried to order special meals but the website was balky and we could never get the selections to go through.
Re: the bulkhead seats - it is definitely EK policy to release seats at check-in, so to be sure to get them, you'll need to go the airport when the airport desks open and request them (they are first come first served), regardless of what the computer said beforehand (EK IT is notoriously poor). As your husband is tall, I think that is the safest option.
Hah! We arrived at DXB nearly eight hours early because I was a wuss and didn't want to drive to the airport in the dark. Or more accurately, I didn't want to drive around the airport in the dark. Finding rental return at Terminal 1 is not easy in the daylight. Lots of quick turns and splits and hidden signs. So we get to the check-in counter and find that the two agents on duty are from Argentina. They were so delighted that we conversed with them in Spanish that they found an exit-row for Daddy Long Legs.
For the meal service - the carts do travel in each cabin section and side separately but they are usually quite good about it once they are deployed. Once again that's down to the inconsistency of the crew, especially in economy as there are lots of new staff. The quality of the service is a lot to do with the quality of the individual supervisor, I find.
The crew arguing about their cart deployment is of course, not acceptable and not unheard of - a quick email to EK should be in order.
As your friend says, rapid expansion in capacity has taken its toll noticeably, imho. Whether that can continue in the current economic environment EK finds itself in is debatable (I suspect EK will be looking for any excuse to fire staff at this point so the badly performing crew members will be out of a job soon).
The inverted cardboard box hides metal oven trays upon which the meals are kept for service. It's not an oven.
Nov 27, 2016, 12:21 pm
#22
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
Hi there FlightDelayed, sorry to hear of your very poor experience with Emirates, and I can understand why you feel so disappointed.
In one of your posts you mentioned that a personal contact (who flies EK regularly) had attributed a gradual deterioration in service levels to the very rapid expansion of the airline. For the most part I am a longstanding fan of Emirates, right from their earliest years ; however, if I was forced to pinpoint one single issue that has had a negative impact on overall quality standards, it would indeed be the dramatic rate of growth, with all its ramifications.
I am fortunate to have done virtually all my EK longhaul travel in the premium cabins and can assure you (FWIW !) that neither business nor First are entirely immune from such negative impact and lack of consistency. You will find many posts here detailing unhappy experiences.
Nonetheless I would like to think you will have a more enjoyable trip if you do give Emirates another go.
As an aside ..... may I - ever so tactfully - suggest that when re-quoting posts, you distinguish clearly your own comments from those of other posters. In the case of your responses to eternaltransit, I found it cumbersome to separate what you yourself had said, as distinct from eternal's contributions.
In one of your posts you mentioned that a personal contact (who flies EK regularly) had attributed a gradual deterioration in service levels to the very rapid expansion of the airline. For the most part I am a longstanding fan of Emirates, right from their earliest years ; however, if I was forced to pinpoint one single issue that has had a negative impact on overall quality standards, it would indeed be the dramatic rate of growth, with all its ramifications.
I am fortunate to have done virtually all my EK longhaul travel in the premium cabins and can assure you (FWIW !) that neither business nor First are entirely immune from such negative impact and lack of consistency. You will find many posts here detailing unhappy experiences.
Nonetheless I would like to think you will have a more enjoyable trip if you do give Emirates another go.
As an aside ..... may I - ever so tactfully - suggest that when re-quoting posts, you distinguish clearly your own comments from those of other posters. In the case of your responses to eternaltransit, I found it cumbersome to separate what you yourself had said, as distinct from eternal's contributions.
Nov 27, 2016, 5:09 pm
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
There are several answers to this question:
1) Huge marketing spend.
2) Flying connections from secondary airports that have worse or inconvenient service.
3) Taking a page out of RIchard Branson's "book". Most people are not very savvy. Give them Telly and Ice Cream and they are happy. (While at the same time making your seating density the highest in the industry)
4) Looking at (3) Realizing that the vast majority of people are NOT premium fliers, and it is was quite easy to make these people believe that your service is superior, even when it is not.
5) Offer premium cabin fares 30-80% cheaper than other trunk airlines. So even if your Biz seat is the worst, you are still seen as the best, because you are "ok" and half the price.
6) In the old days, not anymore, offer lots of free perks for flying through Dubai.
7) Marketing and Advertising and Marketing and Advertising.
(BTW, somewhat related.............Many carriers have great F, however I see more on the EK forum than others whereby most speaking about it are either talking about how they get it for free or at an incredibly knocked down rate).
1) Huge marketing spend.
2) Flying connections from secondary airports that have worse or inconvenient service.
3) Taking a page out of RIchard Branson's "book". Most people are not very savvy. Give them Telly and Ice Cream and they are happy. (While at the same time making your seating density the highest in the industry)
4) Looking at (3) Realizing that the vast majority of people are NOT premium fliers, and it is was quite easy to make these people believe that your service is superior, even when it is not.
5) Offer premium cabin fares 30-80% cheaper than other trunk airlines. So even if your Biz seat is the worst, you are still seen as the best, because you are "ok" and half the price.
6) In the old days, not anymore, offer lots of free perks for flying through Dubai.
7) Marketing and Advertising and Marketing and Advertising.
(BTW, somewhat related.............Many carriers have great F, however I see more on the EK forum than others whereby most speaking about it are either talking about how they get it for free or at an incredibly knocked down rate).
Nov 27, 2016, 7:28 pm
#24
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,454
There are several answers to this question:
1) Huge marketing spend.
2) Flying connections from secondary airports that have worse or inconvenient service.
3) Taking a page out of RIchard Branson's "book". Most people are not very savvy. Give them Telly and Ice Cream and they are happy. (While at the same time making your seating density the highest in the industry)
4) Looking at (3) Realizing that the vast majority of people are NOT premium fliers, and it is was quite easy to make these people believe that your service is superior, even when it is not.
5) Offer premium cabin fares 30-80% cheaper than other trunk airlines. So even if your Biz seat is the worst, you are still seen as the best, because you are "ok" and half the price.
6) In the old days, not anymore, offer lots of free perks for flying through Dubai.
7) Marketing and Advertising and Marketing and Advertising.
(BTW, somewhat related.............Many carriers have great F, however I see more on the EK forum than others whereby most speaking about it are either talking about how they get it for free or at an incredibly knocked down rate).
1) Huge marketing spend.
2) Flying connections from secondary airports that have worse or inconvenient service.
3) Taking a page out of RIchard Branson's "book". Most people are not very savvy. Give them Telly and Ice Cream and they are happy. (While at the same time making your seating density the highest in the industry)
4) Looking at (3) Realizing that the vast majority of people are NOT premium fliers, and it is was quite easy to make these people believe that your service is superior, even when it is not.
5) Offer premium cabin fares 30-80% cheaper than other trunk airlines. So even if your Biz seat is the worst, you are still seen as the best, because you are "ok" and half the price.
6) In the old days, not anymore, offer lots of free perks for flying through Dubai.
7) Marketing and Advertising and Marketing and Advertising.
(BTW, somewhat related.............Many carriers have great F, however I see more on the EK forum than others whereby most speaking about it are either talking about how they get it for free or at an incredibly knocked down rate).
About F - to be fair, I think a lot of that was the apparently ludicrous numbers of AS flyers and they seem to be a bit tighter on that recently.
Certainly I think premium fares have dropped across the board though.
Nov 27, 2016, 9:49 pm
#25
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SYD (perenially), GVA (not in a long time)
Programs: QF PS, EK-Gold, Security Theatre Critic
Posts: 6,785
For the meal service - the carts do travel in each cabin section and side separately but they are usually quite good about it once they are deployed. Once again that's down to the inconsistency of the crew, especially in economy as there are lots of new staff. The quality of the service is a lot to do with the quality of the individual supervisor, I find.
They start serving meals from the front of the cabin with two crew members on each cart. The one at the fore end will serve the meal, then offer drinks, to the people in the first two rows, while the one at the aft end will serve the meal, then offer drinks, to the people in the third and fourth row. So far, so good. They push the cart along and repeat for the next four rows. But then midcabin, they change the routine, with the person at the aft serving just the meals, and the cart rolls a bit and the person at the fore end serves just drinks. Act three, before they get to the back of the cabin, is that they're both serving just meals, another cart (which in some cases is fictional) is coming later with drinks.
The problem comes when you're at the transition point; the FA who is now doing only drinks assumes you got your beverage from the person who gave you the meal, or the FA who comes with the "later" beverage cart doesn't know where to start with passengers who didn't get drinks from the meal cart.
I've watched this show again and again, and it's a complete mystery to me. It would seem to be easy to simply pick one approach (meals and drinks at the same time, or meal from one end and drinks from the other end of the same cart, or separate carts) and stick with it.
On a similar note, on night flights I've watched the FAs doing very frequent runs with trays of water and juice in one aisle, while in my aisle there's nothing. On one such, a FA in my aisle eventually went through with a notepad and took drink orders, but then never reappeared with the drinks. After 45 minutes, I went to the galley to find her sitting and chatting to the other FA, and no hint of apology when I asked for some juice.
Nov 28, 2016, 3:46 am
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
eternal.............
Virgin started ordering and receiving planes with IFE in all seats in 1993. EK did not even have a plane capable of seatback IFE until 1996. Furthermore Virgin started Arcadia, its inflight specialty company in 1994, EK did not have an equivalent until 1998. In 1992 their 727's and A300's were not capable of seatback IFE in every seat.
Virgin started ordering and receiving planes with IFE in all seats in 1993. EK did not even have a plane capable of seatback IFE until 1996. Furthermore Virgin started Arcadia, its inflight specialty company in 1994, EK did not have an equivalent until 1998. In 1992 their 727's and A300's were not capable of seatback IFE in every seat.
Nov 28, 2016, 6:35 am
#27
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 5,454
eternal.............
Virgin started ordering and receiving planes with IFE in all seats in 1993. EK did not even have a plane capable of seatback IFE until 1996. Furthermore Virgin started Arcadia, its inflight specialty company in 1994, EK did not have an equivalent until 1998. In 1992 their 727's and A300's were not capable of seatback IFE in every seat.
Virgin started ordering and receiving planes with IFE in all seats in 1993. EK did not even have a plane capable of seatback IFE until 1996. Furthermore Virgin started Arcadia, its inflight specialty company in 1994, EK did not have an equivalent until 1998. In 1992 their 727's and A300's were not capable of seatback IFE in every seat.
Nov 28, 2016, 10:03 am
#28
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: EK Gold, TK Elite, Marriott Rewards, Global Entry, MileagePlus
Posts: 264
Ditto. Just flew QR again for the first time this year. Yikes! The hot sandwich snack and breakfast were awful. I usually not only eat anything, but also enjoy it. The breakfast had an egg brick... Anyhow, I always find the EK food more than passible in Y.
Nov 28, 2016, 10:28 am
#29
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 444
We were accidental recruits to Emirates about 15 years ago when (due to an air traffic controllers strike in the UK) our Singapore Airlines flight from the UK to Australia was late and we missed it's connection in Singapore. The choice was to be put up in a hotel overnight and get the Singapore Airlines flight next day to Melbourne or to be put onto an EK flight to MEL after a 3 hour wait. We took the latter option, travelling in Y, and we went from a full, stuffy Singapore flight from MAN to SIN to a nearly empty EK flight with more fresh air, a better entertainment system and passable food which at least wasn't mainly spicy Asian grub.
On the basis of this we've travelled regularly on Emirates rather than Qantas, BA, Cathay, Singapore, Lauda (now there was a great airline and I lament its demise, one of the best flights we've ever had and certainly by far the best food) or Malaysian which we'd done from late 80's to early 00's.
As the airlines dumped what I call direct flights from GLA (i.e. you have to go to London before Oz with everyone but EK) Emirates introduced flights from 9 UK airports and onwards to Oz. It was much easier for us to travel from Scotland on Emirates. Since that first accidental flight we've graduated to J and the lure of the chaffeur drive pickups at either end is a great selling point for the airline.
However, over the last 15 years it's rare to get anything other than a full flight. I'd never rave about the Emirates food, either in Y or J but it is passable. I obviously understand why everything has to be Halal but to my non Halal taste everything is well a bit tasteless and bland. Chicken sausage, turkey ham, dry steak etc. We put up with it for the pluses of being able to fly from GLA with only one change of plane and the chaffeur drive pickups. I now read a book, paper or magazine and don't use the IFE other than for the map of where we are and never take the headphones out of the plastic bag. A big plus, probably the biggest is to use the EK lounges in GLA and MEL which are brilliant, often KUL and SIN which are very good and Dubai - passable; too big and too busy and less on offer.
Now that Etihad flies out of Edinburgh we might be tempted to use them but no chaffeur drive pickup and less convenient flight times as well as being marginally more expensive. I can see however why people may become less enamoured with EK over time and all the reasons why they've gained they're reptutation have been mentioned. I would put more emphasis on effects of the billions they've spent on sponsoring sports and teams.
On the basis of this we've travelled regularly on Emirates rather than Qantas, BA, Cathay, Singapore, Lauda (now there was a great airline and I lament its demise, one of the best flights we've ever had and certainly by far the best food) or Malaysian which we'd done from late 80's to early 00's.
As the airlines dumped what I call direct flights from GLA (i.e. you have to go to London before Oz with everyone but EK) Emirates introduced flights from 9 UK airports and onwards to Oz. It was much easier for us to travel from Scotland on Emirates. Since that first accidental flight we've graduated to J and the lure of the chaffeur drive pickups at either end is a great selling point for the airline.
However, over the last 15 years it's rare to get anything other than a full flight. I'd never rave about the Emirates food, either in Y or J but it is passable. I obviously understand why everything has to be Halal but to my non Halal taste everything is well a bit tasteless and bland. Chicken sausage, turkey ham, dry steak etc. We put up with it for the pluses of being able to fly from GLA with only one change of plane and the chaffeur drive pickups. I now read a book, paper or magazine and don't use the IFE other than for the map of where we are and never take the headphones out of the plastic bag. A big plus, probably the biggest is to use the EK lounges in GLA and MEL which are brilliant, often KUL and SIN which are very good and Dubai - passable; too big and too busy and less on offer.
Now that Etihad flies out of Edinburgh we might be tempted to use them but no chaffeur drive pickup and less convenient flight times as well as being marginally more expensive. I can see however why people may become less enamoured with EK over time and all the reasons why they've gained they're reptutation have been mentioned. I would put more emphasis on effects of the billions they've spent on sponsoring sports and teams.
Nov 29, 2016, 1:35 am
#30
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: MM, EK, HH, etc.
Posts: 381
I think EK does it, at least as premium cabins are concerned, on (1) marketing spend (including more subtly and anonymously on social media, forum posts, etc); (2) network; and (3) price. And I assume they are having a tougher time now (other than due to general economic conditions in their area of activities) since they are less competitive on price and have a lot more competition as far as the network is concerned. So factors such as service standards and delivery, which IMHO has not been a strong point or focus of EK these past few years, become more important. And given the competition, customers now have a better choice...